AGNES -- It’s another deer season for Derek Gagne since his return from Iraq five years ago--even after being injured overseas.
"I was injured bringing Humvees back from Baghdad International Airport back to Rustamiyah," explains Gagne. "We were hit by an EFP which is an energy force projectile…a worse version of an IED."
The explosion left him blind in one eye and without a nose, finger, foot and half a leg. Nevertheless, the disabled veteran persevered through a speedy recovery despite what doctors told him.
Gagne says he was informed it would be a year and a half before he would be able to walk. However, the soldier proved doctors wrong, explaining he "walked in about two or three months" and "was running in about six to eight months."
The only setback he mentions is from too much activity, thus irritating his knee. Besides that, Gagne doesn't let anything stop him from living life to the fullest. I still play basketball on Wednesdays…I still bowl on Fridays," says the veteran.
So far, Gagne’s deer season has been bleak, but just like when he lost his limbs, he exclaims tomorrow is a new day filled with new opportunity to succeed.
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